Winning Primary for Conyers' Seat, Bernie-Style Dem Poised to Become First Muslim Woman in Congress

Winning Primary for Conyers' Seat, Bernie-Style Dem Poised to Become First Muslim Woman in Congress

WASHINGTON -- A former Michigan state legislator is poised to become the first Muslim woman elected to Congress after emerging on top of a crowded Democratic primary Tuesday night to fill the seat vacated by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.).

Conyers, the sixth-longest serving member of Congress given his election in 1965, resigned in December due to sexual harassment and his use of taxpayer money to settle a harassment claim.

His western Detroit district is all but a lock for Dems, as Republicans didn't put forth a candidate.

Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American and socialist Dem in the mold of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), ran on a platform to abolish ICE, provide Medicare to all and establish a $15 hourly minimum wage. New York congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez campaigned for Tlaib.

There are currently two Muslim men in Congress: Reps. Andre Carson (D-Ind.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who is not running for re-election and instead vying to become Minnesota's next attorney general.

In 2008, Tlaib became the first Muslim woman to serve in the Michigan Legislature.

She later got kicked out of a Trump rally, a protest that she called "the most American thing I could ever do."

.@RashidaTlaib talks about getting thrown out of a Trump rally (for asking him if he ever read the US constitution), the reality of being a Muslim in America, and the importance of knocking doors pic.twitter.com/xOl50igFO2